The ‘EMEA Channel Academy: 2018 Awards’ were held in conjunction with regional consumer tech channel hosted buyer event DISTREE EMEA 2018. The awards included a series of 11 awards for consumer technology distributors, with the winners announced during DISTREE EMEA, which took place in Monaco.

A total of 11 distributors received awards with ABC Data, ALSO, ASBIS, CMS Distribution, Esprinet, Exertis, Ingram Micro, Merlion, Mitsumi, Redington and Tech Data all winning one apiece. The distributor winners were announced during a Gala Dinner in Monaco, which formed part of the DISTREE EMEA 2018 event programme.

Taking place for the tenth consecutive year in 2018, the awards were voted for by executives from retailers, resellers and vendors across EMEA, who were instructed to vote only in regions where they operated, or had in-depth knowledge of the distribution landscape.

2018 winners

The list of winners by region, was as follows:

1. Africa Consumer Tech Distributor of the Year

WINNER: Mitsumi

2. Middle East & North Africa (MENA) Consumer Tech Distributor of the Year

Close votes

Liam McSherry, Marketing Director at DISTREE Events, said: “Voters were instructed to assess distributors on the overall quality of their business performance during the last 12 months and their skills as a distribution partner. We asked them not to simply pick the biggest distributor in each region, but to select the companies that had impressed them most during the last year with their operations and go-to-market approach.”

“We want to congratulate all of the winners. The voting was extremely close in some regions showing how competitive the distribution channel still is. In the Russia & CIS region, a special mention must go to Marvel, which came a close second to Merlion, while in the Central & Eastern Europe region, AB/AT Computers Group challenged eventual winner ABC Data every step of the way,” McSherry added.

Planning is already underway for the ‘EMEA Channel Academy: 2019 Awards’, which will take place in conjunction with next year’s DISTREE EMEA in Monaco. The next DISTREE EMEA is scheduled for February 19-22nd 2019.